Eastern Michigan University Geotourism Program Student Assistant Andrea McNeil (left) and Eastern Michigan University Co-Coordinator of Geotourism Program Kelly Victor-Burke sample wines at Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery located on the Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City on Wednesday May 15, 2013. / Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press

TRAVERSE CITY — Now that Pure Michigan advertising has enticed more people to visit the state, it’s up to authentic Michigan experiences — rather than slick promotion or gimmicks — to keep them coming back.

Otherwise, the notion of Michigan becoming a top-tier tourism draw is merely a vacation from reality.

Evidence is emerging that the state is indeed building on unique geographic and historic assets, particularly in the Traverse City area, to grow the tourism economic pie. Up-and-coming wine and craft beer industries are meshing with America's appetite for farm-to-table, locally grown food to turn the region into a “foodie” destination as well as a land of lakes, beauty and outdoor recreation.

Here’s evidence that these attractions are getting notice outside the state:

■ Airlines are adding direct seasonal flights or more seats to Traverse City’s airport from Newark, Cleveland, New York LaGuardia, Denver and Atlanta. “That shows the kind of momentum we’re experiencing and the airlines are recognizing,” said Brad Van Dommelen, president of the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

■ Traverse City hotels reported a 24% increase in out-of-state visitors last year. Six years ago, only 13.5% of visitors to the region were from outside Michigan; now it’s more than 25%.

■ Accolades are coming from afar: Bon Appetit magazine named Traverse City one of the Top Five Foodie towns in the nation; and celebrity chef Mario Batali chose the Cooks’ House farm-to-table eatery in T.C. as one of his nine favorite restaurants in the world, alongside the likes of Le Louis XV in Monaco, where lunch prices start at $180.

Elsewhere in Michigan. Holland popped up last week on the “Today Show’s” list of top five affordable beach locations; Grand Rapids took top spot as Beer City USA in a recent poll, and Detroit and Grand Rapids showed up on a Forbes list of emerging downtowns.

Leisure travel spending in the state last year almost certainly eclipsed the previous high of $13.3 billion in 2006, although 2012 data is not complete, according to the state’s Travel Michigan bureau.

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Brys Estate vineyard and winery, on the Old Mission Peninsula, sitsin the midst of converging trends that are driving new people and dollars to the region.

“It all has to do with geography,” said Patrick Brys, operations manager of the estate that was a dormant cherry farm when his parents bought it in 1999. It now draws 60,000 to 70,000 visitors a year for wine tastings and sells 8,500 cases a year. Next year, Brys will add an elevated deck to the winery, to provide a better view of Grand Traverse Bay for patrons.

The sandy soil on the peninsula is perfect for vineyards and the location at the 45th parallel puts Old Mission at the same latitude as famous wine-growing regions Bordeaux in France and Piedmont in Italy.

Michigan is now the fourth largest grape-growing state after California, Washington and Oregon. Since 2005, wine production in Michigan has grown 65% and 2 million people are expected to visit the state’s wineries this year. Of slightly more than 100 wineries statewide, about 35 are in the Traverse City area.

Patrick Brys said many visitors come from New York, and are intrigued by not only the wines, but the beauty and affordability of the place. “New Yorkers are sick of the Hamptons,” he said, “and they see that a home on the water here is about $500,000, versus $3 million or $4 million on Long Island.”

Van Dommelen of the CVB said about 75% of his marketing budget is now spent out-of-state. One ad is a 15-second spot promoting Traverse City, appearing each hour on an electronic billboard in New York’s Times Square.

Increasingly, today’s young and relatively affluent travelers — sometimes called geotourists — patronize local businesses and eat at places serving regional cuisine. “It’s a change in what consumers expect on a trip,” said Travel Michigan vice president George Zimmermann. “It’s no longer ‘I want to go to the beach,’ but also ‘I want to have a great culinary experience.’ ”

Those are target patrons for restaurants like the Cooks’ House, where chef Eric Patterson has a blackboard on the wall with the names of 50 local food suppliers.

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One thing that could stunt tourism growth is an impulse to get greedy or glitzy withprojects that don’t suit the state’s geography or culture.

Referring to an National Geographic article that rated Traverse City as “a place in the balance,” Treenen Sturman said the region “could go either direction — it could be destroyed by tourism or it could be elevated to an incredible level by tourism.”

Sturman, executive director of the Grand Traverse Conservation District, said the state and local CVB have done a great job of attracting visitors. But he worries that a flood of new visitors may overwhelm a community that’s not ready.

To help foster healthy interaction between the community and tourist traffic, Sturman’s group just released a smartphone app called “Experience 231” that lets users choose an activity — hiking, biking, birding, etc. — and helps them find the best fit among 300 local outdoor experiences.

Ideally, Michigan’s tourism growth will evolve like Don Coe’s Black Star Farms. Coe, retired president of the Hiram Walker distillery in Windsor, moved to the Leelanau Peninsula in 1998 and nurtured a popular winery, equestrian stables, a 10-room inn, a restaurant and a creamery. He helped owners John and Anne Hoyt incubate Leelanau Cheese into a growing concern that’s now big enough to move off-site.

And what will Coe do with the space when Leelanau Cheese is gone? “I’d like to put a microbrewery in there,” he said.